P.

4: RATIONAL EXPONENTS AND RADICALS

P.4: RATIONAL EXPONENTS AND RADICALS

I. Rational Exponents

Definition
1) If a is a real number and n is a positive integer, then

a   a 1 n n  a1  a
n
1n

Note: if n is even, then we require that a  0 .

2) If n and m are positive integers such that m/n is in simplest form, and if b1 n is defined, then

   b  m 1 n   b m  
m 1n
b m n  b1 n
Note that the properties of integer exponents in section R.3 also hold for rational exponents.

Example 1: Evaluate each expression

 32   4  (e) 326 5

15 12
(a) (b) (c) 161 4 (d) 642 3

Example 2: Simplify each expression. (Assume all variables are positive real numbers)

   3x 
1 2 2
3 2 4 12
 121  x8 4 x 4 5
 x1 2 y 2   4 x 2 y 4 
(a) 6x 23
 2x 12
(b)   (c) (d)  1 4   
 100  3 x 
2 2
1 2 2
 2y   y 

II. Radical Expressions

Definition of Radicals
1) If a is a real number, n is a positive integer, and a1 n is a real number, then
n
a  a1 n
2) If a is a real number, m is an integer, n is a positive integer, and n
a is a real number, then

 a
m
am n  n
 n
am

Here a is called the radicand, n is the index and the symbol n

is the radical sign or root.
Further more

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 P.4: RATIONAL EXPONENTS AND RADICALS

a) If a  0 , then n
a  0

b) If a  0 , then n
a  0

 n a < 0 if n is odd
c) If a  0 , then 
 n a not real if n is even

Rules for Radicals

If m and n are natural numbers and a and b are nonnegative real numbers, then

o Product: n
a  n
b  n
ab

n
a a
o Quotient: n
 n , b0
b b

o Power: m n
a  mn
a

 a if n is odd
o Absolute Value: n
an  
 a if n is even

III. Simplify Radical Expressions

Simplifying Radicals

Example 3: Simplify each of the following expressions

2  6  x   
2 14 13
(a) 3
40x 6 y 4 (b) 3
0.027 (c) (d) 4
 x3 , if x  0

Combining Radicals

Example 4: Simplify each of the following expressions

(a) 4x2  4 y 2 (b) 5 x 3 16 x 4  3 128 x7 (c) 2 2 x3 y  4 x 8 xy (d) 5 3 3  2 3 81  4 3 24

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 P.4: RATIONAL EXPONENTS AND RADICALS

Multiplying Radicals

Example 5: Perform the indicated operations

3
x2  4
x
(a) 4
b3  b (b) 4
m4 (c) (d) 4
m3n  3 m 2n
3
x

Rationalizing Denominator

 To rationalize the denominator of the form n

b k where k < n and b > 0, multiply both

numerator and denominator by n

bnk .

 To rationalize the denominator of the form a  b n , multiply both numerator and

denominator by its conjugate a  b n .

Example 6: Rationalize the denominator

5 8 xy 2 3 2 5 2 1
(a) (b) 3 (c) (d) 3 3
4
3 125 x 2 y 3 2 2 3 3
2 16 54

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P.4: Rational Exponents - Class Note
I. Rational Exponents

II. Radical Expressions

III. Simplify Radical Expressions
 Simplifying Radicals

P4 Page 1
 Combining Radicals

P4 Page 2
 Multiplying Radicals

 Rationalizing Denominator

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P4 Page 4